


Lance's secret Valentine

by Tahemalie



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: ALSO IM DEAD LOL, Also death of my heart, Dates, Fluff, I spent literally 3 days nonstop writing this and i havent slept in a couple hours, Kisses, Klance x happiness, M/M, Ocean, Romantic date, Romantic dates, Thats how much i love klance, Valentine's Day, beach, valentines day, vday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 08:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9714149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tahemalie/pseuds/Tahemalie
Summary: Lance noticed people have been acting strange lately, and today is the day he will find out why that is.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's day everyone I'm dead inside

Lance wasn’t quite sure why everyone was acting so strange lately. It had been going on for the past few days or so. Whenever he walked through a corridor, and for example Allura would be walking by, she’d either turn into a giggling mess or try to hide whatever she was holding in her hands. Hunk and Keith were somehow constantly gone -how Lance felt about that, he wasn’t sure- and Pidge had forbidden Lance from exploring the castle. He was only allowed to stay in either the common room with Coran, with Blue or in his room.

Coran was the only company he really got, but when he was with him, the only thing the Altean was able to do was ask him questions about his romantic interests. Of course, Lance had braggingly answered that he had girls liking him on every planet, and that he’d rather date them all, but somehow Coran didn’t seem to believe him. He always directed the conversations to Keith, for whatever reason.

It was confusing -hell, he wasn’t even allowed in the kitchen anymore this morning!

It got on his nerves, so since no one wanted to tell him what was going on anyway, no matter how hard he tried, he decided he’d just spend the day in his room, sulking because he literally had nothing to do and nowhere to be at this point. If he was bored, he would go to Blue and rant about his problems with her. At least she didn’t shut her out.

Lance did know that Shiro had big plans. Because, of course, Valentine’s day was coming up soon and he was busy arranging things with someone. Who, Shiro didn’t want to tell.

Ah, Lance hoped he had fun. And he would be fine with whoever it was, as long as it wasn’t Keith. Why him? Good question. Maybe he wouldn’t like it either if it was Pidge. Not like she seemed really interested anyway. All she did was toying with technology and shit.

For now, the Blue Room (as Lance liked to call it) was a good place to be. Although it was colder here and sitting on the ground wasn’t all that comfortable, chilling and having a couple of ‘bonding moments’ as Keith liked to call them (weirdo) wasn’t all that bad. Besides, Blue sometimes had some cool -pun intended- gossip from the other girls. Maybe she was able to tell what was going on with the others? 

Lance sat against one of Blue’s mechanical paws, giving a sigh. ‘I just don’t understand, you know? Can’t you like, talk to Red or whatever other lion to figure out what they’re doing?’ 

No answer. Lance scoffed.

‘Alright then, if you won’t talk I’ll leave’

No response. Lance sighed as he stood up and made his way towards the door. ‘Anytime now… Bye Blue’

Nothing.

Lance sighed almost sadly. He opened the door and walked to his room. He really wasn’t feeling Coran’s fire of questions anymore. His footsteps echoed through the hallways, and once he reached the right door, a whoosh indicated the door opened.

Lance face lit up when he suddenly saw Allura standing there, looking like a deer in the headlight while she was holding… clothing…?

Lance smirked. ‘Girl, if you wanted to change with me you just gotta-’

Allura pointed her finger towards the paladin. ‘Don’t you even dare. I’m here for another reason.’

Lance tilted his head in confusion, frowning. What was she coming to do, then? Without Allura having to explain herself, she smiled, her shining teeth exposing. Her cheeks were a redder shade of brown, and her eyes had an almost mischievous sparkle. She dumped the heavy package of clothing into Lance’s arms as she happily bounced on the ball of her foot. They were heavy, but they were warm from supposedly the ironing. ‘I want you to wear this this evening. Don’t -and I mean don’t- leave this room until Pidge comes to get you.’ She said in an ordering tone, yet a sense of enthusiasm was apparent. ‘If you do, you’ll be on cleaning duty for a long time.’

He didn’t know it was possible, but Lance just became even more confused. ‘A-alright, I think?’ he said, off guard.

‘Oh! Make sure you look ur best okay! Bye!’ Allura almost skipped her way out of the door.

Okay, she was clearly hiding something.

Lance let out a sigh and dropped the clothing on his messy bed. He couldn’t quite make out what the bunch would look like on him, but there was only one way to find out.

But, if he had to look his best (for whatever reason) he might as well do his whole routine. 

Lance stripped down naked and turned on the shower. Luckily, Pidge, Hunk and Coran had made the showering system a lot more like Earth’s together, considering the Altean included some form of coma. He let the perfect warm water flow over his body, and Lance forgot about his loneliness for a brief second. 

\--

Getting into this outfit Allura had given him wasn’t as easy as he thought, so when it was finally on and he looked in the mirror, he sighed with relief.

Lance had to say, this suited him amazingly. The outfit was clearly Altean, however it wasn’t majorly white, which was what he expected. In fact, it was a beautiful purple-ish blue, with the sleeves being a darker and richer shade than the torso.

All in all: Lance looked fancy as hell. 

He posed a few times, smirking at himself as he fixed his hair. He looked good in this and he kinda wanted to wear it more often. Girls love this shit. Boys probably too-

Without any knocking on the door, Allura stormed in the room. She gasped when she laid her eyes on Lance, her delicate hands covering her lips. ‘Oh my, you look stunning Lance!’

Lance smirked. ‘Honestly, I’d look good in anything, but this surely is the cherry on top. Why am I wearing it though?’

Allura smiled sneakily as she stepped closer to adjust some of his clothing. ‘Oh, don’t worry, you’ll find out soon enough! Turn around, would you please?’

Okay, Lance wasn’t sure of himself anymore. He cleared out his throat and tried his best not to be nervous as he turned around. ‘So, uh, when’s Pidge coming?”

 

‘Oh, she’ll be here in a bit to escort you. Don’t worry, Lance, you’ll love it.’ 

Silence fell over the room, and for whatever reason, Lance’s palms were sweating. Why would he be nervous? It didn’t make any sense…

The sound of a door wooshing made the blue paladin turn around in curiosity. It was Pidge, dressed up in a deep green suit. She smiled, correcting her bowtie. Apparently Alteans had those too. “Hi Lance, you look really good!” 

“He does, doesn’t he?’ Allura answered for him, causing a blush on Lance’s face.“Is everything set?”

Everything set? What the heck was going on here?! 

Pidge had nodded in response while Lance was trying to figure out what was going on. Was everyone dressed fancily? Maybe it was a Altean thing to suddenly dress up like you’re going to have dinner with the royal family? “I don’t understand. What in the quiznacks name do you mean?!”

Pidge and Allura gave each other a smile. Why were girls like this. “You’ll find out soon enough! Now go with Pidge, there’s someone waiting for you!” Allura practically shoved Lance out of the door, causing him to almost trip over his own feet. “Have fun!”

And with a heavy push and the wooshing of the door, Lance was standing outside, completely flabbergasted. Only a minute ago he was complaining about how lonely he was, and now he was in ancient Altean clothing doing who-knows-what.

Weird folk.

Lance glanced down at the green paladin, raising a brow. “So, what the heck is going on here, Pidge?” he asked. Pidge only smirked as she locked arms with him.

“Just follow me.”

\--

Lance honestly had no idea where he was. They’d been walking for quite a while now and he had honestly never seen this part before. On moments like this the paladin realised how tremendously big the castle was and how little he had actually explored completely. Pidge was talking about some technology stuff or whatever, and while normally Lance would’ve actively engaged in the conversation, she didn’t leave room for him to say a word. So, instead, Lance was nervously trying to find reasoning behind all of this.

Suddenly Lance realised the lighting had changed. He looked behind him and could see the gradual change from the familiar cyan blue to a deeper shade of purple, causing his clothing to appear more blue than purple. Pidge didn’t seem budged by it, though. She did glance up, meeting Lance’s eyes, and let out a smirk. ‘Nervous, loverboy?’ she teased him, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

He could feel his cheeks warming up as he pouted. “Am not.’

‘Oh really?’ Pidge replied, stopping in her tracks. ‘We’re here.’

Lance gulped. ‘On second thought..’

They were standing in front of a bright white door, which was a pink color in this lighting.

Pidge laughed and tapped some buttons on a display next to a door. “Alright, loverboy. You’ll have to walk through the door in a bit and just keep on walking. Have fun!’

And then, the door opened. And Lances heartbeat tripled. He felt Pidge shove him inside, and before he could turn around and protest, the door was already closed. 

Silence fell over the room, and only now Lance had time to look around. The walls were, contrary to the rest of the castle, a very dark grey, which seemed to be close to purple. Stars seemed to be painted on the walls

Wait a second.

Was that… glass?

Lance’s hand gently felt the walls as he started to walk. It was cold -of course it was- yet the small reflection of his hand indicated it was, indeed, glass. Or the Altean version of that. Either way, he was looking out over space and it was gorgeous. A smile crept upon the paladin’s face as he continued to walk. This only piqued his interest more. Walking turned to a jog, and before he knew it, the hallway had ended and he was standing in front of…

A wall…?

Was this a prank?

He didn’t even have time to get mad, as a glass wall closed him in a tube, it seemed, and the ground underneath him started to move upwards.

Full in awe he was glancing around him, yet the only thing he saw was the purple lighting and walls. Lance let out a nervous sigh.

Where the hell was he going…?

The lift ride, however, didn’t take long. Soon, the capsule stopped and the glass door opened. 

A dark room had opened in front of him had opened. Cautiously, Lance stepped out the lift, trying his best to make out some shapes in wherever he was.

It didn’t work.

The only thing he could sense were the sounds of his own footsteps, and a sound behind him. He turned around (or course not being able to see anything) and turned back. He felt lost. He opened his mouth to speak.

“O-okay guys, I don’t know what kind of prank this is, but can you guys maybe stop?” he spoke out, the sound of his own voice becoming lost. “It’s not funny anymore

Then, a source of light formed around his feet in a circle, emitting a dark blue glow. Lance frowned in confusion. A circle of blue light had formed around his feet, almost shimmering like water.

What in the…?

Then, out of nothing, the circle around his feet expanded and a dark blue light, with a hint of a purple glow, filled the room. On the walls, the ceiling, the ground -everything was shimmering like water. As Lance glanced up, he could make out sun rays falling through, though dim. 

And in a flash, a huge whale passed by.

Lance’s mouth fell open of awe. An actual whale was above him. Or, if it wasn’t a real one, it surely appeared like it. As he glanced at his feet again, he could make out beautiful coral on the sides of rocks, hundreds of colorful fish swimming around him. 

It was like he was standing on the bottom of an actual ocean back on Earth.

Lance honestly didn’t know what to think. His mouth was hanging open, his eyes big and bright as he couldn’t stop staring. He was pretty sure tears had formed in his eyes. A shaky breath formed on his lips as a smile emerged from it.

“Do you like it?” A familiar, male voice spoke, low as he broke the silence.

Lance recognised that voice everywhere. He instantly turned himself to the voice.

“Keith..?”

Lance took a moment to thoroughly look at him. His usual messy and greasy hairdo was taken care of, now being shiny and in model. His purple irises stared nervously back and a small smile was on his lips. His cheeks were a small tinge of red, and Keith, too, was dressed into royal-looking Altean fashion. His was a more red-ish purple, appearing more red in the current lighting, golden embroidery matching his own. A small cape was hanging over his left arm, and if he looked closely, he could see him shake a bit.

Lance’s eyes widened.

Fuck.

He looked really quiznacking good.

He gulped as he tried his best to keep a straight (lol) face. He laughed at himself for that pun. “W-what are you doing here…?” Lance managed to whisper out, causing Keith to let out a silent laugh as he stepped closer.

“Without me, you wouldn’t even be here,” Keith pointed out.

Realisation struck him like lighting. It was Valentine's Day. Lance honestly didn’t know what to think. His face turned a dark shade of red and he could feel his entire body warming up, causing his hands to sweat.

“A-are you serious? You -you made all.. this happen?!” Lance gestured with his arms, while Keith stepped closer to him. “I-I d-didn’t know you…”

“Felt that way?” Keith gave him a crooked smile, something remotely close to a smirk. Lance could only nod, slowly, in awe. He let out a few stammers, but Keith soon silenced him as he pulled something from behind his back.

In Keith’s shaky hands was a handful of unfamiliar flowers, yet they were gorgeous. He reached them out. “H-Happy Valentine’s day,” Keith nervously stammered, his face turning into a red mess.

Lance’s mouth was still open, and without saying anything, he flew into Keith’s arms, pressing himself firmly against the other. He buried his face into his shoulder as a couple tears rolled over his cheek. He was overcome with emotions, and he was only able to whisper out a joyous ‘thank you’.

Keith seemed to be frozen as a statue for a moment, but soon Lance felt him loosen up as he hugged back. 

Lance was sure he’d never been this happy with a boy that had a mullet.

It was Lance that pulled away again, glancing at the flowers he now held in his hands. “H-how did you even get these?” Lance questioned, brushing his thumb over a red flower in the bouquet.

Keith scratched the back of his head. “I got some help from everyone. Allura told me there was a botanical garden with different flowers from all over the world. I couldn’t find any Earth flowers, but these were close enough, I guess.”

Lance smiled as he glanced back at Keith. His expression was nervous and Jesus actual CHRIST he looked amazing in that outfit. It was hard to tear his eyes away from Keith’s body and to focus on his eyes instead. “They’re super nice, thank you.”

Lance had the feeling he was being less overdramatic in his feelings. Normally, he would’ve made at least ten snarky remarks, but this time he couldn’t even think of a single pickup line. It felt rather strange to him. Maybe it was because he, usually, was the one to initiate?

He recalled that he usually sent girls (or boys) some chocolates back on Earth, but he usually got denied, which was, rather sad, but it meant that Hunk, Lance, and last year Pidge too, had a romcom movie night with discount Valentine’s chocolate, which was really neat.

Keith cleared his throat, causing Lance to snap out of his silly little daydream. “So, uhm, are you hungry?” Lance nodded in response. “Okay, then come with me.”

Keith was already making his way, so Lance half jogged to him and grabbed Keith’s hand on impulse. He felt his hand stiffen for a moment, but it soon loosened up. He glanced down at Keith, gave him a smile, causing the mullet boy to give him a slightly nervous smile back. That’s when Keith’s smile turned into a light smirk -a sight Lance wouldn’t ever forget- as he pulled the blue paladin with him. The floor underneath them created a pattern in the water as they walked.

A little bit further into the room, where there seemed to be more of a coral reef part of the ocean, there was a table set. Trillions of fish, in all the colors of the rainbow, swam around, while above them a Keith let go of Lance’s hand and pulled a chair back, waiting for him to sit down. 

Flustered, Lance thanked Keith and sat down in the chair. The table had candles on them, which, if Lance was honest, he really liked the contrast between the water background and the fire. 

Keith had sat down by now, and he was pretty sure mullet boy was staring at him. Nervously, Lance met his eyes, before smiling almost romantically. His belly was doing weird things. ‘So, what’s on the menu today?’ he asked, fiddling with a tissue.

‘Ah, Hunk should come any second,’ Keith replied, glancing around. ‘There he is.’

The yellow paladin came through a hidden door, dressed in waiter clothing. He was holding a plate with what seemed to be wine on it. He stood next to the table. ‘Welcome, tonight, here’s your drink,’ he said, winking as he gently placed the glass. He bent over, whispering something in Lance’s ear. ‘He’s been preparing this for a long time. Have fun you two.’ He took the flowers with him, 

Lance’s eyes followed Hunk in awe as he whispered something into Keith’s ear too, which made him laugh in turn. He wondered what Hunk was talking about… Soon, Hunk had disappeared. 

Music started playing softly. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, and it sounded foreign. With confusion in his eyes, he looked at Keith, who started talking. ‘Coran and Allura picked the music. There wasn’t a lot, but they managed to make a playlist of songs,’ he explained, his hands folded.

Lance nodded absent-mindedly. It was a lot of take in, all… This. Apparently, Keith had managed to cover all his preparing from him. How? Why? Everything was jumbled together, paying attention already deemed difficult. However, when Keith started talking, his mind managed to clear up a bit.

‘Are you okay, Lance?’ He spoke carefully, seemingly worried. It was kind of cute, if Lance was honest.

Lance frowned a little, shaking his head before he replied. ‘I-It’s a lot. I, uh, have to let it, sink a bit,’ he replied awkwardly, covering his face in embarrassment. He rubbed his eyes before he let his head rest on his hand. ‘I don’t understand. You- did all of this? Why? Is this a prank? This- this isn’t a prank, is it?’ He laughed, rubbing his forehead. ‘Oh my god, this is insane. You put so much time in this- just to trick me? W-where did you hear..?’ 

There was no way Keith would be able to like him. He was too awesome for that. Keith was supposed to like a pretty girl, like a protagonist gets away with the girl. Lance was just the annoying gay -bi- side character who happened to be in love with the main character. This wasn’t supposed to…

Lance had spotted confusion on Keith’s face as he tilted his head. ‘Why would I be joking about this?’ He replied, dead-panned. ‘Why would I mess with your feelings?’

He wasn’t able to form a good sentence. ‘Wait. Wow wow wow go back a minute. How long did you know.’

‘Know what? That you like me?’

Don’t put it like that you stupid. It was an intense rivalry. He told himself. Maybe.

Keith laughed lightly, his face lighting up. ‘Listen up, Lance, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but you’re kind of not good at.. hiding that stuff. You’re always trying to one-up me but I overheard you talking to Hunk and stuff.’ I’m not messing with you.’ Keith cleared his throat as his eyes diverted.

Lance leaned on the table, closer to inspect his expression. He almost seemed.. Shy? In any case, he kind of looked really vulnerable. Maybe he really wasn’t pranking him?

‘So you mean to say that...’ Lance continued, his voice dying down yet his voice didn’t think about calming down for a second. His throat was becoming rather tight and his belly was making somersaults.

‘Yeah. I-uh. Like you.’ 

Lance gulped as his breath shocked in his chest. An immediate smile had formed on his lip, vigorously trying to bite it down. Then a chuckle emerged from his throat.

‘You’re the stupidest guy I know.’

Keith glanced back at Lance, his expression nervous, yet a crooked smile formed on his face, though nervous. ‘Apparently you don’t know yourself then.’

That’s when Lance’s laugh got louder. That certainly was an icebreaker.

\--

The night was going smoothly. After their short moment of mutual confession, they started drinking the wine Hunk had give them. Or, at least, Lance assumed it was. It tasted rather good, actually. It didn’t take long before Hunk brought them the food.

‘Two plates of ropa vieja,’ Hunk said, giving Lance a wink. He stared at the plate in awe. Lance recalled his mother had once taught Hunk how to make Cuban dishes, but that seemed ages ago.

‘You’re kidding, Hunk! You’re a hero, man!’ he exclaimed, ready to dig in. ‘I can’t believe you remembered how to make-’

‘Actually, Keith helped me for the most part with this,’ Hunk replied almost proudly. ‘I just did the final steps, but it was Keith who somehow managed to get ingredients. Or at least stuff that tastes similar.’

Lance looked at Keith across him as he pointed his fork at him. ‘You made this?’ Keith nodded with a smile in response and Lance swore his body would explode if more surprises like this kept happening. 

‘Bon appetit!’ Hunk said after he replenished their wine.

Lance was flabbergasted as he dug in. The familiar taste flowed over his taste buds and Lance knew for sure he was touching heaven. He was reminded of good things about home, having dinner with a big family. He was almost sure he had tears in his eyes.

‘Do you like it?’ Keith asked in a low voice, purple eyes staring up at him.

Do you like it. Are you serious, you idiot.

‘For real? You literally make this amazing dish for me, and you ask me if i LIKE it?!’ Lance exclaimed, letting out a laugh. ‘I fucking love it! You’re amazing, holy shit. I-I’m.. I’m stunned. How did you manage to get all the ingredients?!’

Keith’s face only showed relief as he let out a soft laugh as Lance stuffed his food with more food. ‘Sneaking out in the middle of the night trying to find the best replacements according to an ancient Altean recipe book, before they went down the goo-route?’ He replied, chewing. ‘Literally, Allura and Coran had to translate the entire thing from ancient Altean, it took about a week!’

Lance laughed. How long did Keith spend on getting this night right? It was insane, and he almost felt honored it was all for him. Maybe he wasn’t just a dead weight, after all..

Keith actually cared about him, and he actually liked him in a romantic way.

If he had told himself that a couple years back, he would’ve laughed himself in the face.

Faster than he’d like to realise, he had finished the amazing dish while chattering about his life on earth. He extensively rambled about his family as his flushed the food away with a little bit of food. Keith was listening the entire time, almost absent-mindedly smiling and nodding as he spoke. Here and there they both laughed at a snarky comment, and when Lance made a bad pun about something, Keith playfully kicked him under the table. The music was still playing in the background, and when it faded away, a sort of familiar, catching tune started playing. 

Lance didn’t know if it was the little alcohol in the wine -he didn’t feel intoxicated after all-, or if he genuinely wanted to dance.

Without fully realising it, he stood up, gave Keith a bright smile and reached out his hand. ‘Let’s dance!’

Keith’s initial response was a nervous blush, but soon a smirk came on his face as he took his hand. ‘Bet I can dance better,’ he challenged him in a low voice, almost looking up sneakily.

‘Oh you’re ON!’ Lance replied, his eyes sparkling as he pulled Keith up. ‘I’ll have you know, I’ve had exactly two breakdance lessons, so you could say I’m practically a pro!’

Technically, that was a lie. Lance’s mother insisted on him learning a couple of ballroom dances, like salsa and cha-cha-cha. He wasn’t a master at them, but he did know the basics.

‘Oh yeah?! I’ve been living on my own in a shed for a year or so and I’ve never danced in my life! Think you’re a match for me?!’

Lance almost stopped dead in his tracks as he glanced at Keith. ‘Wait. You’ve never danced?!’ His mouth formed an o. This boy couldn’t be serious? ‘Alright, I’ll teach you.’

He pulled Keith with him to a place with more space. ‘First of all you have to loosen up those hips. You can’t dance if you’re stiff.’ Keith looked up at him with an amused smile. Lance gave him a crooked smile as he lifted an eyebrow. ‘Okay, stop staring at me with your pretty eyes and instead look at my feet. I’m going to lead you. It’s kind of like sword fighting but then.. dancing.’ 

That caused Keith to look confused. ‘I don’t think I understand, though. You don’t need to lead if you dance, right? Like, it’s like free right?’

Lance let out a loud laugh. ‘Free? What do you think we’re going to do, have a dance-off?’ He shook his head as he laced his fingers with Keith, causing both of them to blush. Lance could feel his own hand warming up against Keith’s.

‘No, mullet boy. I’m teaching you how to cha-cha-cha the night away.’

Keith gulped. He looked nervous. 

Lance placed his other hand on Keith’s shoulder blade. The fabric of his clothing was very soft, he had to say. He cleared his throat. ‘Place your hand on my shoulder.’ he said in a hushed voice, giving Keith a gentle smile. Keith did what he was told. This actually felt really nice, already.

‘Now, it’s been awhile since I’ve done this, so forgive me,’ he apologised prior. ‘Glance down at your feet, I’ll show the steps. You follow. Got it?’ 

Keith nodded. Lance could actually feel that his hands were shaking. It was cute to see Keith nervous like this, it didn’t happen often so he might as well enjoy while it lasted.

Lance showed the basic steps to the cha-cha-cha, a dance that he found one of the easiest to learn. ‘So, put your right foot back as I put my left one forward,’ he instructed.

\--

Just like practically everything, Keith was a fast learner. Surely, he did mess up here and there and his rythm wasn’t super in the beginning. Every time Keith made a mistake, or he accidentally stepped on his foot, he let out a rather cute chuckle as he glanced down at his feet again. After a while, both of them were dancing across the ocean floor almost without tremendously messing up. Lance let Keith do a twirl, causing both of them to laugh as they met eyes again. Keeping eye contact caused both of them to see the joy in each other’s eyes, and it was the moment Lance actually realised how gorgeous they were under the dim, purple lighting. Before both of them knew it, they started dancing closer to each other, pace becoming slower as the song slowed down, too. They were completely in synch, to such a point it almost scared Lance.

He let Keith slowly spin, causing his clothing to twirl behind him as he let out a laugh. When Lance looked closely, he could see his eyes were closed.

Keith somehow looked so pure like this, his usual incomprehensible expression gone. Somehow, Lance got reminded of Keith as a fire. He seemed free like this, yet not out of control. No, he made sure of that, like he was water keeping the fire at bay. Yet he didn’t extinguish the flame; instead, he gave reason to keep on burning.

Time had slowed down that second. Keith fell back into Lance’s arms, almost pressed against his body. They had slowed down so much that they both almost came to a stop. To keep him from stopping completely, he slid his hands down to Keith’s middle, causing him to look up through his lashes. 

Lance just gave him a faint smile, trying his best to contain how beautiful the fire in his hands was. 

He smiled back, laying his hands on Lance’s shoulders as they continued slow dancing rather than doing an actual ballroom dance. Keith’s eyes closed as Lance brushed his cheek against Keith’s temple, his eyes, too, barely open.

They kept dancing like this, their surroundings completely forgotten. It was only them and the faint sound of music that kept them going. 

‘I never enjoyed ballroom dancing,’ Lance murmured softly, vulnerable. ‘The partners I used to work with felt empty, like I was dancing with a mannequin or something.’ He let out a soft chuckle, followed by Keith. ‘They told me I was like water. I had my own will, my own path I made for myself, yet I somehow managed to… extinguish the life held in my hands.’

He could practically feel Keith frown, wanting to pull away to glance at him. Lance didn’t let him do that as he continued.

‘But you,’ he continued, letting out a hushed chuckle. ‘You only fuel me. If I’m water, that means you’re a flame wanting to be tamed. Like, if you won’t let me do that, you’ll lose control and, too, kill everything surrounding you.’ Lance opened his eyes, slightly pulling back so he could gaze at Keith’s intrigued, purple eyes. ‘Like we need each other so we don’t accidentally kill each other, you know?’

When he didn’t get a response from Keith, apart from a gaze and the parting of lips, his face flashed red out of embarrassment. ‘Ah- I must’ve sounded like an idiot. I-uh.. I’m sorry for whatever that was.’

Keith didn’t even seem to notice that. Instead, he seemed to be in such a trance it almost shocked him. A hand reached up to his face, gently laying it on his cheek, the tops of Keith’s fingers brushing his hair. The touch was soft, delicate. ‘Shut your mouth,’ Keith whispered, giving him an incredibly genuine and pure smile. ‘I never would’ve thought of you as a poet.’

‘Well, I need some way to be smooth,’ Lance grinned, slowly blinking, causing Keith to let out a hushed chuckle.Keith looked amazingly good up close. His eyes were staring up at him, almost puzzled. His cheeks were red, his lips parted lightly.

He didn’t really think about it when he closed his eyes and slowly leaned in. His heart was beating in his throat. What would Keith even think?! He was literally trying to kiss him here!

Lance could feel the red paladin’s breath against his lips, yet they didn’t touch lips yet. He let that up to Keith to do that. He read somewhere that that was how you’re supposed to do it..

They stood there like that for what felt like an hour. Keith’s breath had shuddered, before he opened his lips to whisper something. ‘I-I.. I have to show you something,’ he spoke, off-guard.

Welp. Lance had fucked up.

Embarrassingly, he pulled back, diverting his eyes so he didn’t have to meet eyes. He didn’t want to know what Keith was thinking. ‘Ah- alright. uh- show… show what u have to show,’ Lance stammered, a hint of sadness in his tone. ‘I-I’m sorry.. yeah.’ He wasn’t sorry.

‘Idiot... Come,’ Keith almost forced out, letting out a nervous sigh.

Lance always thought he was pretty good at reading situations, but apparently that wasn’t the case this time.

Keith nodded, pulling away but swiftly taking Lance’s hand and lacing their fingers as Keith pulled him along. Another door appeared as he got practically dragged to one of the ocean walls. A door opened, revealing a dark corridor, with, once again, purple lighting.

Jeez, they really put work into creating an atmosphere, didn’t they?

Keith slowed down, glancing worriedly at Lance. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked softly. Lance almost instantly nodded.

‘Y-yeah, I’m good, never been better,’ he lied, giving him a fake smile he gave his teammates often when he got homesick.

Keith didn’t seem to buy it, yet he turned his head back to look up ahead. Lance was glad he wasn’t planning on asking more questions.

‘I wanted to keep the best for last,’ he spoke as he arrived to a door. ‘Pidge, Hunk and I have been working on this for a long time, actually. I think it’s been a couple months?’ Keith chuckled as the doors opened, revealing a dark, unlit room. ‘Go on, step in.’ 

Almost cautiously, Lance set his feet through the door. ‘So..? You’ve been working on a spare room?’ He joked, trying his best to light the sudden heavy mood a bit.

Keith shook his head, tapping in some things on what seemed to be a control panel. ‘No, it’s way more than a room,’ he replied, a smirk appearing on his face as he pressed the last button.

The entire room became bright, causing Lance to squint his eyes together at the sudden overdose of light. It was almost like the sun was shining in his eyes. He felt the texture of the floor change to a looser material. Was that… sand? It was almost like he heard water… the air tasted salty, and a soft breeze ruffled his hair.

When he was adjusted to the sudden sunlight, he noticed his senses weren’t fooling him. It was like had teleported to a beach. The sun was red and hanging low, seagulls flying through the sky. In the far distance, a boat seemed to be sailing.

Lance’s mouth was hanging open. In a second’s time, his eyes had already formed tears as he walked up to the calm waves rolling over the shore. He crouched down, his fingertips brushing the cool, genuine water.

He was lost in time for a second. He felt like he was home. Keith’s voice broke the silence. “It’s a similar thing as Allura’s father made for her, but Pidge and Hunk somehow coded it to look like an Earth beach. It took long, and it might glitch here and there but…” Keith stopped talking as he noticed tears were rolling over Lance’s cheeks. “Why are you crying?”

Lance let out a chuckle, a happy sob he wasn’t able to hold back. ‘Just because. Y-you spend so much time in all this, and-and..’ He spoke, his voice breaking, his eyes sparkling as he stood up again. ‘I- I can’t believe..!’

Keith laughed, sitting down on a rock. ‘You’ve been homesick. I thought -we thought… this might help,’ he replied, sitting back.

Lance kicked off his shoes, touching the warm sand with his feet. he let out a happy sigh before he ran over to Keith. It was gradually warmer here than in the castle. He wiggled his toes. ‘I can’t thank you enough, I’m.. I don’t know what to say!’ He laughed, wiping a few happy tears away. He was ecstatic at all of this.

Keith actually spent months -months!- secretly creating this because he somehow knew how homesick Lance was!

This was insane, this changed everything.

It was warm in this room, so there was only one way to counter that.

Lance unbuttoned the top half of the outfit, throwing it on the ground. Lance didn’t really care that much. He ran up to the water and let the cold water touch his feet. He let out almost a sigh of relief. 

‘Come, Keith! The water is nice!’ He yelled, smiling brightly. The splashing of the water felt extremely comfortable. It felt so.. so- REAL. He glanced back at Keith, who seemed awfully lonely on that rock. He, too, had kicked off his shoes. Yet something changed in his expression. He seemed… nervous? Keith formed his hands around his lips.

‘You enjoy yourself, I’ll just watch!’ Keith yelled back, causing Lance to lift a brow. This dude was an idiot.

‘What the fuck, Keith?!’ Lance made his way out of the water, sprinting back to him. The familiar feeling of the sand sticking to his feet was something he never thought he’d enjoy. Keith looked surprised at him running out of the water like that. ‘No, no, no. I’m not the only one getting to enjoy this!’ Lance ran as hard as he could, and as soon as he arrived, he pulled Keith up within a heartbeat and pulled him to the water.

Keith was almost obligated to follow Lance, although he was loudly protesting against it. Lance, however, didn’t care. ‘I’m not going to swim, Lance. It’ll ruin the clothing!’ He protested almost playfully, trying his best to escape the blue paladin’s tight grip. When it almost worked, Lance stopped walking.

‘Fine, if you won’t go in the water by yourself, I’ll have to use other methods,’ he smirked slyly, grabbing Keith by the hips and lifting him. He let out a surprised shriek as Lance lifted him. ‘Boy, you’re light. Do you even eat, ever?!’ Lance teased him, walking over to the water as Keith tried to escape, which failed miserably.

‘Let me go Lance! Y-you’ll ruin the clothing!’ He tried to say, yet a laugh made the protest extremely unrealistic. Lance clicked his tongue.

‘The mice would’ve eaten the clothing anyway if you hadn’t decided to dress up,’ he pointed out, feeling the wave at his feet. Now Keith was getting heavier, and him kicking around in mid-air wasn’t really helping. When he was a little further in the water, he smirked. 

‘This bitch EMPTY!’

‘Don-Don’t you DARE, Lance!’ Keith stammered, sounding almost scared of the water.

‘YEET!’

With as much force as Lance could, he threw Keith into the water, causing him to yell out as he fell into the water with a splash. 

When Keith came up again, his hair was firmly pressed against his face, causing Lance to laugh out. Only his head rose up from the water, a smirk clearly on mullet boy´s face. ‘oh, NOW you’re gonna get it!’ he exclaimed cheekily, before he latched his arms around Lance’s hips and dragged him underwater.

Lance felt himself surrounded by the familiar feeling of water, though it wasn’t salty for whatever reason. He opened his eyes underwater, a few bubbles of air coming from his lips as he smiled. Keith was on top of him, his hair flowing in all directions as he raised a brow underwater. 

In that moment, time had stopped for a little. It was just them, looking at each other under water. Both their smiles faded, Keith’s stare turning almost embarrassed as he realised his hands were on top of Lance’s chest and side, while his hands were on Keith’s hips. Lance stuck out his tongue, which caused the mullet boy to chuckle. He realised both of them were still underwater and that breathing wasn’t possible, so it didn’t take long before Keith started coughing as he rose up to the surface, soon followed by Lance.

However, Lance wanted to stay in that moment forever, how impossible that request might be.

\--

The sun was almost disappearing behind the waterbank when both of them exited the water, drenched. Luckily, the air was still rather warm, so it didn’t take long before Keith, too, had dropped his shirt. They sat down on the sticky sand of the beach, watching the sunset. Their arms were brushing, but somehow it felt natural to sit this close to him.

After short bickering about who had actually won in the water fight, a silence fell over both of them. Lance was fiddling with his fingers, laughter dying out. ‘Hey, Keith,’

‘Yeah?’ he replied. He saw him look at Lance from the corner of his eyes. ‘Is there something wrong?’

Lance smiled, shaking his head. ‘No- actually the opposite,’ he replied, smiling with his upper teeth on his bottom lip as he glanced at Keith. ‘Thank you for today. I really -really enjoyed it.’

Keith’s cheeks almost instantly turned red. He looked funny and flustered like this. His hair was drying and it was gaining its straw-like texture back. The red light of the sunset, however, gave him such a pure expression that he almost couldn’t be mad at the bad haircare. Keith gulped. He seemed nervous for some reason.

‘L-Lance?’ He whispered softly, letting out a shaky sigh. ‘I-uh.. C-can I-.. I-d like to-’

Now, Lance knew Keith wasn’t necessarily the best with words, but this was getting ridiculous. In any other situation, he would’ve laughed at Keith, but right now, he couldn’t. ‘Just spit it out, I promise I won’t get mad,’ he replied, giving him a reassuring smile.

‘I’d l-like to -uh.. Kiss you.’

Lance’s breath stopped in his throat as his eyes widened. He was sure his cheeks immediately became as red as a beet. He turned himself to Keith -torso and all- and sat closer to Keith. ‘You’re a fucking idiot, Keith,’ he murmured, letting out a chuckle, closing his eyes. His voice died down to a simple whisper. ‘Of course you can.’

Keith’s breathing shocked, but soon a nervous smile appeared on his face as his hand laid in Lance’s. The touch was tantalizing to him and it didn’t take long before his hand touched Keith’s cheek and they moved closer. Both were looking at eachother, letting out nervous laughs. Lance, purposely, didn’t make the first move. Keith wanted to kiss him, so he needed to initiate.

‘I’ve never done this before,’ Keith whispered, their lips only inches away. Their breaths were already mingling, their eyes closing softly.

‘So? Just kiss me already, mullet boy.’ Lance whispered back, and it barely took a second before Keith closed the gap between them.

Lance felt his heartbeat accelerate as lips touched, soft, insecure. He moved himself closer, trying his best to keep his cool. He was actually kissing with Keith and it felt rather good. Amazing, even. He never thought his lips would be this soft.

Sooner than Lance actually wanted , Keith pulled away, yet their foreheads kept touching. Both their eyes were closed. Lance was really enjoying the touch of Keith’s calloused hands, rough from training so much.

Keith let out a shuddering breath. “So did that just really happen or was I dreaming?” he asked softly, causing Lance to chuckle. 

‘I hope it wasn’t a dream,’ he replied, grinning. ‘How about I pinch you to check?’

That caused Keith to laugh and open his eyes, pulling away slightly. ‘Pinching? I heard tickling works better.’

Lance raised a brow. ‘Oh really?’

‘Yeah really.’

‘You’re on.’

Keith laughed as he didn’t waste a minute, starting to attack Lance’s bare belly with pokes and tickles. He immediately scurried back, trying his best to escape Keith’s fast fingerwork. It didn’t really work, and before he knew it he couldn’t breathe from laughter as Keith’s hands seemed to be everywhere. ‘S-stop, Keith! I-I can’t b-reathe!’ he managed to cackle out, trying his best to push Keith off him. Yet the power in his arms seemed to be completely gone, deciding to give up and attempting to roll over instead.

That wasn’t a possibility either, considering Keith was literally straddling Lance. Keith was actually sitting on top of him.

Lance threw his hands next to him, surrendering himself. ‘Okay, okay! I surrender, I surrender, Keith Kogane!’ he exclaimed, trying to catch his breath.

Keith smirked out of triumph. He, too, was out of breath. ‘Ha, gotcha!’ he grinned, putting his hands against his sides.

Lance laugh died away as he fully observed Keith like this. His raven hair was spiking in all directions, cheeks mildly red and his eyes sparkling with happiness. His bare, lightly defined chest was breathing quickly. 

Without really thinking about it much, Lance sat up a little and met Keith’s lips with force. That, certainly, threw him off-guard as he almost immediately kissed back. Lance supported himself on his elbow, his other hand tying into Keith’s hair. A shudder left his lips as his mouth opened a little, giving Lance access to softly enter with his tongue.

Somehow, it felt to him like they’d been doing this forever. Like they’d been together since the beginning of time, so to speak.

Lance smiled into the kiss. This was certainly the happiest he’d been since becoming a paladin. All thanks to this idiot of a mullet boy, who practically got them here in the first place.

The kiss stayed soft and delicate, as if they were both scared of breaking each other. It was like they were dancing again, like they were fire and water who desperately needed to keep each other tamed. It felt good like this.

They’d been kissing for quite a while like this, because when they pulled away the sun was completely gone and her last red rays were dying out over the beach. They looked each other in the eyes before a smile erupted on Keith’s face. Lance felt his heart race even more, if that was even possible. He bit his lip in response, trying to contain his own smile.

Lance chuckled, softly caressing Keith’s cheek. ‘I think I can get used to us not bickering but instead kissing,’ he murmured.

He let out a hum, nodding in agreement as he leaned against Lance’s palm. ‘You decided that we were rivals, idiot,’ he pointed out. ‘But I agree. If you forget this bonding moment, though, I’ll seriously kill you.’

Lance scoffed. ‘What bonding moment? I have no clue what you’re talking about.’

Keith gave him a playful push. ‘Jackass.’

‘Happy Valentine’s Day, Keith.’

Keith opened his eyes, looking through his lashes as he gave a tiny smile.

‘Happy Valentine’s Day.’


End file.
